Peace Education as a tool for Post-Conflict Healing in Rwanda

By Rawlings Magede

My visit to one of the Genocide memorials

During the past weeks I was holed up in Rwanda visiting memorial sites and villages in a quest to learn more on how the country has recovered years after the 1994 genocide that left more than 800,000 civilians dead. The genocide lasted for hundred days and engulfed the country into a turmoil as organised killings and massacres of the Tutsi escalated.

The colonial practice of ethnic profiling on identity documents aided in the easy identification of Tutsi minorities during roadblocks and targeted searches. Churches that had since time immemorial been credited for speaking truth to power become complicit in the killings and often deceitfully offered “safe” refuge to Tutsis but only alerted the Interahamwe’s (   Hutu militias) who massacred hundreds of thousands in cold blood. The snail’s pace by the international community to intervene and stop the killings further aided the killers and saw the killings stretching up to hundred days. In my Rwandan learning experience, I sought to understand how the country with several genocide memorial sites that are open to outside visitors had managed to overcome this dark past. Most complex is the youth bulge within the Rwandan population. Rwanda has a population of 13.25 million. According to statistics by the United Nations, at the end of the genocide  an estimated 95, 000 children are believed to have been orphaned, were products of rape and were born with some ailment given that in some cases rape by HIV infected Hutus was a weapon of war. How then has Rwanda managed to target young people in its quest for post conflict, healing, and reconciliation?

Anti-genocide laws

Article 16 of the Rwandan constitution provides for Non-discrimination and makes such an act a punishable offence. This important clause is a product of post genocide reconstruction    by the government in trying to heal festering wounds of the 1994 genocide that was instituted based on tribe and ethnicity. Modern Rwanda has managed to transform itself from ethnic identification and this has seen the country discarding ethnic profiling on key documents such as identity documents. Even the people prefer not to be identified by the ethnic origins but rather choosing to be identified as Rwandese. This in my view remains a positive step in reducing future ethnic hostilies. However, this is not without its challenges. For example, it might pose a serious threat to the annihilation of one’s ethnic origins or identity.

Peace Education in schools.

Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Aegis Trust developed a model for peace education in Rwanda, supporting tens of thousands of young people across the country with the knowledge and skills to overcome the legacy of genocide. Peace education started as a pilot project at Kigali Genocide Memorial in 2008.In 2014, the Rwanda Education Board announced inclusion of peace and values education as a cross-cutting subject in Rwanda’s new national curriculum.

In the events leading to the 100 days of genocide, Rwanda suffered from the lack of education and other infrastructure for peace. Youth were over-equipped with killing instruments – traditional arms, machetes, guns, etc.  Violent meetings were organized around the country. The media broadcasted violent messages, and hatred was spread around the country. There were warning signs about a possible genocide, and youth were indoctrinated in divisive and genocidal ideology.  Unrest, disorder, prejudice, despair, and instability were the common characteristics in Rwandese communities.

In the aftermath of the bloodshed, the slogan “Never Again” was coined with an objective to never allow the country to slide back into another genocide. In my observation, the country has made steady progress towards healing and reconciliation. Rwandans have demonstrated the power of human resilience. Firm recovery efforts have been made to rebuild the country. Anti-genocide and pro-peace strategies have been established and adopted by the people. While the country still has a lot of ground to cover to attain wholesome healing and reconciliation, the progress made thus far is quite encouraging. The introduction of peace education is a master stroke into the future that will ensure that coming generations understand the importance of peaceful coexistence anchored on ubuntu and human rights respect.

Lessons for Africa

African countries have gone through violent conflicts. While some governments have embraced the past and initiated healing and reconciliation infrastructure such as Truth and Peace Commissions, most of it has been piecemeal and has continued to be subject of rigorous debates among peace practitioners. In East Africa for example, countries such as Uganda continue to trudge on this path. Northern Uganda remains a region in dire need of healing and reconciliation following the war by rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) that left thousands of dead, homeless and divided. Efforts by the Ugandan government to issue a blanket amnesty on all LRA returnees has been met with mixed feelings as some returnees still face stigma, exclusion, and labelling within their communities. If not well managed, the country will once again slide back into armed conflicts. In countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that have known no meaningful peace since the 1950s due armed  conflicts by various rebel groups, little has been done to initiate a robust healing process for  communities that have been victims to successive rebels particularly in the Goma area. In Southern Africa, Zimbabwe to be specific, communities that have been on the receiving end of state sponsored massacres such as Gukurahundi are yet to fully enjoy the full benefits of any healing reconciliation process. Tribalism and exclusion continue to divide communities already divided by past atrocities such Gukurahundi and post 2000 cycles of election violence.

In the final analysis, Africa must confront its past and legacies of sponsored violence. This entails creating the requisite political will and strengthening institutions and commissions charged with the mandate of building real and genuine peace. Further bickering and interference will only derail any genuine healing and reconciliation processes.

Rawlings Magede is a Rotary Peace Fellow Based at Makerere University, Uganda. He writes here in his personal capacity. Feedback on rawlingsmagede2@gmail.com